Apex machine

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"That one with the black armor is a new breed, deadlier than the rest."

―Talanah

Aloy pursues an Apex Sawtooth

Apex machines, also known as the "new breed" in the comic series or "hunter-killers", is a variant of a machine initially seen in the Horizon Zero Dawn comic series, as well as in Horizon Forbidden West. Unlike their regular variants, Apex-variant machines possess black armor rather than white, along with increased destructive capabilities.

They are drawn to locations where large numbers of machines have been killed, serving as guardians, and will stop at nothing to eliminate anyone they consider a threat.

History

First appearing sometime after the Battle of the Alight, the Apex predators were developed by HEPHAESTUS as part of its escalating culling of human hunters. Given their purple markings, the Apex machines are likely the successor to Daemonic machines, which HEPHAESTUS had deployed weeks before.

The Comic Series

The Apex machines were encountered by Talanah while in Aloy's company; the Nora huntress had been engaged in combat against a Sawtooth of this variety, and Talanah came to her assistance. After the pair defeated one, Aloy enlisted Talanah's help to track down a second that had escaped.

Following its tracks across the river, the duo discovered the machine had destroyed an entire caravan of Carja travelers; the only survivor was a young girl who fled, with the Sawtooth pursuing her relentlessly. Aloy and Talanah chased after the machine and worked together to destroy it and save the girl. Afterwards, Aloy cautioned Talanah that no one other than herself would likely be able to defeat these machines.

One week later, Talanah encountered an Apex Clawstrider in the woods near Rising Light, narrowly escaping it with the help of Amadis. After being questioned by Amadis, Talanah revealed that her mission was to destroy the machine, which she considered a danger to the entire village.

The two tracked the machine to Sunbreak Valley, where it attacked a group of mercenaries and trappers who had been aggressively over-hunting Grazers in the area. Talanah leaped into action to fight off the machine, and with assistance from Amadis she was able to stun it, then kick it off a cliff and into a river.

Horizon Forbidden West

In the Forbidden West, Aloy first encountered Apex machines on her way to Repair-Bay Tau, after they had emerged from the cauldron and attacked the Utaru. Subsequently, Aloy encountered Apex machines frequently, especially at night.

Aloy tracked down and defeated an Apex Clawstrider that had attacked an Utaru hunting party. Later, on the Isle of Spires, she defeated an Apex Thunderjaw that was besieging the Quen at the Thebes Digsite.

Appearance

Apex machines are distinguished by their black armor, accented with gold-colored trim and purple marking. If a normal machine variant has elemental canisters, its apex equivalent typically will have canisters of a separate elemental type (except variants specifically marked as a certain element, such as an Acid Bristleback).

Behavior

These machines appear when other machines are killed in large numbers, serving as guardians. They are especially persistent and ferocious hunters, chasing down prey at any cost.

Apex machines appear more often at night, and the chance of encountering an apex machine rises as the number of its standard counterpart casualty increases, as noted in the table below. Note that Apex Scrappers and Plowhorns have an increased chance of spawning during the day rather than night.

Name	Tier 1 (+20%)	Tier 2 (+40%)	Tier 3 (+60%)	Night (+35%)
Burrower	18	21	27	Yes
Canister Burrower	5	8	15	Yes
Tracker Burrower	5	8	15	Yes
Scrounger	13	17	25	Yes
Scrapper	6	10	19	No
Grazer	n/a
Glinthawk	6	10	19	Yes
Leaplasher	4	8	14	Yes
Charger	n/a
Lancehorn	n/a
Spikesnout	6	10	19	Yes
Fanghorn	n/a
Redeye Watcher	5	8	15	Yes
Skydrifter	4	7	13	Yes
Stalker	4	7	13	Yes
Plowhorn	5	8	15	No
Longleg	4	7	13	Yes
Bristleback (each variant)	6	10	20	Yes
Widemaw	5	8	15	Yes
Clawstrider (each variant)	4	7	13	Yes
Corruptor	n/a
Grimhorn	3	6	9	Yes
Bellowback	4	7	13	Yes
Shell-Walker	5	9	16	Yes
Ravager	4	7	13	Yes
Snapmaw	4	8	15	Yes
Sunwing	n/a
Clamberjaw	5	8	16	Yes
Rollerback	4	7	13	Yes
Frostclaw	1	2	4	Yes
Specter	n/a
Scorcher	1	2	4	Yes
Rockbreaker	1	2	4	Yes
Behemoth	2	3	5	Yes
Dreadwing	2	3	4	Yes
Tideripper	2	3	4	Yes
Shellsnapper	1	2	4	Yes
Slitherfang	3	4	5	Yes
Stormbird	1	2	4	Yes
Thunderjaw	2	3	4	Yes
Tremortusk	2	3	4	Yes
Fireclaw	1	2	4	Yes
Slaughterspine	2	3	4	Yes

Abilities

Apex machines are HEPHAESTUS's latest iteration of "hunter-killers": compared to their standard counterparts, their armor is tougher and more resistant to damage, they have a minimum of 50% greater health, and can inflict more damage. They will always be encountered fully armored. Additionally, they typically possess different weaknesses than their standard counterparts (if they have any at all).

Similarly to Corrupted and Daemonic machines, they are incapable of being overridden. However, they are still susceptible to being overridden from Corruptors.

Gallery

A black-armored Clawstrider

Trivia

• The Charger, Grazer, Lancehorn, Fanghorn, Sunwing, are the only machines to not have Apex versions. It can be safely assumed that neither does the Strider or Broadhead, although they do not appear in game.
  • While their Hearts are obtainable items in-game, Apex Sunwings are never encountered.
  • For the Charger and Sunwing, this absence of apex variants is likely to ensure that a mount can always be found at their sites, especially as the Charger is the only machine able to be overridden from the start of the game. It is unknown why the three deer-based machines have no Apex variant, though this is presumably because their combat capabilities aren't as great as other resource gathering machines. This is perhaps another reason why Chargers lack Apex variants.
  • The Corruptors and Specters are not Zero Dawn machines and thus have no Apex variant.
• Because of their purple cords, and their immunity to overriding, Apex machines could be considered the successors of Daemonic machines.